Using data from the 2010 to 2017 National Health Interview survey, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were utilized to estimate the percentage and odds of having multiple chronic conditions (two or more, three or more) among U.S. adults ages 65 and over with and without disabilities, controlling for sociodemographic factors and presence of psychological distress. Older adults with and without disabilities in the United States most frequently reported having hypertension, arthritis, and diabetes. Regression results indicate that older adults with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience two or more and three or more chronic conditions than older adults without disabilities, controlling for sociodemographic factors and health behaviors. These findings highlight a need for improvement in coordinated care that considers both disability and multiple chronic conditions in the management of patient health to support well-being in aging.

Diet quality varies widely across geographic areas in the United States and is a critical component of community well-being. Community food security (CFS) relates to the availability, stability, and access to food at the community level, and how these issues connect to the community food production system. This study explores the joint relationship between community social capital, economic capital, and individual diet quality. Hierarchical generalized linear mixed model regression using publicly available data from 2005–2009. The sample consisted of 216,381 adult respondents nested within 283 micro/metropolitan counties. After controlling for individual level factors, social network density was significantly associated fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC), but not obesity. However, income inequality was associated with greater rates of FVC and lower likelihood of obesity. County-level poverty rates were not associated with FVC but had a negative relationship with probability of obesity. Household size, a proxy for household social capital, was positively associated with FVC and negatively related to probability of obesity. Findings from this study suggest a strong role for social capital and economic factors in CFS. This study also reinforces the importance of strengthening theoretical explanations of the role social capital at the community and household levels play in CFS to guide practice and evaluation for community well-being initiatives.

In 2021, the economy added more jobs than it had in nearly two decades. Despite the fact that women’s labor force participation rates have approximately returned to pre-pandemic levels,1 working-class women and mothers are still lagging behind. Women who stay in low-wage jobs or who are employed in the service sector may experience volatile hours, affecting their take-home pay, not to mention the stress they may bring home to their children. Overall economic gains did not flow to the working class, exposing the deep veins of inequality that run through the US economic system. Higher rates of job switching during the recovery phase of the pandemic recession may signal a critical need to develop more responsive, family-based economic policies and workplace practices that can transform bad jobs into better jobs. Specifically, policies and practices need to ensure greater income security, better pay, and more stable scheduling that helps stabilize the week-to-week or month-to-month family financial situations. Historically, women’s poverty rates have been higher than men’s for nearly all races and ethnicities, whether measured using the official poverty measure or the supplemental poverty measure (SPM).2 3 This is despite increased overall female participation in the labor force over the last half century and the consistently high frequency of nonwhite mothers’ employment, which has increased considerably over the past few decades. Even in 2020, a year with massive government economic response to the pandemic, women still had a higher SPM poverty rate relative to men nationwide, even with a poverty measure that accounts for all sources of government transfers and net of tax.4 The intersection of educational attainment, family structure, and the low-wage labor market may jointly shape women’s economic well-being. In 2020, nearly five-in-nine workers in the US were paid hourly wages as opposed to annual salaries.5 More than 77 percent of wage workers do not hold a bachelor’s degree (as compared to only 36.7 percent of salaried workers).6 Although pay levels have long affected the financial well-being of workers, particularly those employed in the service sector, the prevalence of unstable working hours is drawing new attention from researchers and policy makers. Besides those in food service and retail, service sector jobs may include work in health care, building cleaning or maintenance, and care work—a sector where women are overwhelmingly employed. Adding a child to these families may pose additional financial challenges, especially to sole caregivers (mostly mothers). High childcare costs often push families with young children into poverty.7 It is not uncommon for these families to have insufficient resources and liquid assets to buffer the negative consequences of work volatility. This brief examines three aspects of economic security facing women in recent years: poverty, instability in working hours, and a lack of financial savings, with special attention paid to lesseducated women with children.

We document how lifetime utility varies by demographic groups in the US and how these differences have evolved since the start of the 21st century. Using the equivalent variation as our measure of welfare we find that the standard deviation in cross-sectional well-being between demographic groups is comparable to the standard deviation of relative annual income in prime earning years and double the standard deviation of relative consumption. Our metric includes consumption, leisure, and mortality risk. The results are primarily driven by differences in consumption and life expectancy. Controlling for other demographics, welfare is increasing in educational attainment and is higher for women and those of Asian descent. This qualitative ordering is robust to classifying a broad measure of home production and child care as work and various definitions of real consumption. Finally, we show that changes in mortality rates associated with 'deaths of despair' disproportionately lower the welfare of less educated Whites.

More than 3.1 million immigrants reside in New York City, comprising more than a third of the city’s total population. The boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens are home to nearly 940,000 and more than 1 million immigrants, respectively. According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH) Community Health Survey (CHS), foreign-born New Yorkers have poorer health and less access to healthcare than their US-born counterparts. For this study, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) focused on six neighborhoods in these two boroughs whose immigrant residents were identified by a previous CMS study, Virgin and Warren (2021), as most at risk of poor health outcomes: Brooklyn • Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights • Bushwick • Sunset Park/Windsor Terrace Queens • Elmhurst/South Corona • Flushing/Whitestone/Murray Hill • Jackson Heights/North Corona Immigrants comprise between 31 to 63 percent and undocumented immigrants comprise between 5 to 18 percent of the total populations in these neighborhoods. Though many of New York City’s health and social service programs are open to all residents, immigrants – especially the undocumented – remain at greater risk of poor health outcomes than US-born residents due to other barriers to access to healthcare. The CMS research team conducted a survey of 492 immigrants across these six neighborhoods and convened one focus group to collect data on immigrants’ health and well-being. CMS also surveyed 24 service providers including community health clinics, health focused community based organizations (CBOs), and hospitals that work with immigrants in the studied neighborhoods. Analysis of these data, together with the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and the DOHMH's CHS, provides insight into the factors that affect immigrants’ health and wellbeing across these neighborhoods. This study highlights several social determinants of health that likely contribute to the native-immigrant health gap. Finally, the study describes steps that can be taken to close this gap.

This dissertation studies the role family structure and processes play in the sociocultural outcomes and well-being of children from immigrant and non-immigrant households. Diverse immigrant groups and their families are constituting larger shares of the U.S. population, often sparking conversation on their children’s ability to fit into mainstream American culture. Immigrant families are one of the primary sources of socialization, and as such, the context of the family can affect how immigrant children are introduced into their host society. There is a growing body of literature that examines cultural outcomes of adolescents in the context of immigrant households. This study adds to this body of literature by examining three topics: whether family structure impacts adolescent sociocultural outcomes (e.g. primary language spoken at home, religious beliefs and behaviors, and dating activities) and well-being by generation, the extent to which family structure operates indirectly through family processes (e.g. parental attachment, involvement, communication, and control), and the manner in which generation paints the effects of family structure and processes on adolescent outcomes and well-being. To answer my research questions I analyzed Wave 1 (1994) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The final sample consisted of 13,801 first- (n=1,008), second- (n=2,007), and third+ generation children (n=10,786) aged 12 – 17 with at least one biological parent. I used a variety of statistical approaches to test for direct and indirect effects of family structure (one vs two parent households) on three measures of sociocultural outcomes- primary language spoken at home, religious beliefs and behaviors, and dating activities – as well as three measures that make up well-being (e.g. depression, delinquency, and drinking/smoking). Indirect measures were assessed by testing mediating effects of parental attachment, involvement, communication, and control. Statistical approaches depended on the outcome variable of interest and included ordinary least square (OLS), binary logistic, negative binomial regression, and multinomial logistic regression. Analysis consisted of fully moderated regression models and increasingly complex regressions. I also test if generation modifies the effects of family structure and family processes on measures of interest. I found that the effects of family structure differed across generations, with the presence or absence of a parent playing less of a role for immigrant families. Similarly, the effects of family structure were less likely to operate indirectly via parental attachment, involvement, communication, or control in immigrant homes. And finally, there were minor differences between immigrant and non-immigrant family structures and their effects on primary language spoken at home, religious identity, and well-being, with first- and second-generation children from single-parent homes experiencing advantages relative to their third+ generation counterparts. Future research should explore how factors outside the home, including peers, neighborhoods, and schools, might contribute to adolescent sociocultural outcomes and well-being. This study concludes with theoretical, practical, and policy implications, as well as a brief discussion on the role public sociology can play in immigrant research.

Despite considerable improvements in electricity coverage, millions of people are still lacking the access to electricity. Residential electricity access is a prerequisite for numerous aspects of increased well-being and quality of life. The aim of this paper is to identify key household characteristics that are linked to the energy poverty measured as access to electricity. Literature on financial and general poverty showed mixed results on household size and characteristics as a driver of poverty. We argue that household size and proportion of children in households are key variables associated with energy poverty in developing countries with lowest levels of electricity coverage. Our research approach treats electricity access as economic good and focuses on demand side – households. By utilizing census microdata across 69 non-OECD countries, our research provides large-scale analysis on household size and characteristics as a driver of energy poverty. We found that, in majority of low-income countries, same principles for general or financial poverty apply to energy poverty which is represented by negative effect of household size and proportion of children on energy poverty.

Data on women’s living conditions and socio-economic development are important for understanding and addressing the pronounced challenges and inequalities faced by women worldwide. While such information is increasingly available at the national level, comparable data at the sub-national level are missing. We here present the LivWell global longitudinal dataset, which includes a set of key indicators on women’s socio-economic status, health and well-being, access to basic services and demographic outcomes. It covers 447 regions in 52 countries and includes a total of 265 different indicators. The majority of these are based on 199 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for the period 1990–2019 and are complemented by extensive information on socio-economic and climatic conditions in the respective regions. The resulting dataset offers various opportunities for policy-relevant research on gender inequality, inclusive development and demographic trends at the sub-national level.

Scholars have long debated whether home rule powers help improve municipal financial well-being; however, a consensus has yet to be reached. This study advances the home rule literature by causally estimating the impact of home rule in Texas on municipal revenue stability. To accomplish this, we employed a difference-in-differences estimator coupled with event-study specifications on a 40-year-long panel data set. This approach revealed strong empirical evidence that cities adopting a home rule charter had a significant reduction in the probability of experiencing revenue decline. This finding remained robust with multiple measures of revenue change, an alternative sample, and different model specifications. Moreover, we found that home rule cities’ revenue stability was likely to come from their increase in property taxes.

Low family income is associated with worse child academic achievement. Little is known about how health insurance expansions affect children’s achievement in low-income households. This study examined the effects of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions primarily for Medicaid and Marketplace enrollment, beginning in 2014, on children’s academic achievement in Iowa. The study employed a unique linkage of birth certificates and data on standardized school tests for children in Iowa and took advantage of differences in uninsurance rates across areas in the state before the ACA insurance expansions. There is evidence that the ACA expansions beginning in 2014 were associated with higher reading scores after three years for children born to mothers with a high school education or less. There is no consistent evidence of an effect on math scores. Overall, these findings suggest broad spillover benefits from health insurance expansions to the well-being and development of children in low-income households that should be part of the continuing policy

Despite being the longest relationships across the lifespan, the sibling dyad is the most under-studied relationship in the family system. Researchers have documented the harmful and beneficial effects of sibling relationships and family dynamics on individual well-being. Extending this research to middle childhood, the current study examined family functioning, sibling relational dynamics, and self-reported adjustment and internalizing symptoms among 8- to 11-year-old children. Path analyses revealed significant direct effects between conflictual family functioning and children’s psychological well-being. Significant interactions between family functioning and sibling dynamics suggested that congruent relational dynamics at multiple levels of the family system had a cumulative impact on the child’s well-being. Findings from the current study highlight the role of family functioning and the unique contributions of sibling relationships to children’s functioning, suggesting that consideration of sibling relational dynamics may improve treatment planning by pointing out additional targets for intervention and/or potential sources of support.

Key elements of the American Rescue Plan Act would reduce the projected poverty rate for 2021 by more than one-third. In an earlier analysis, we projected that without this legislation or other new supports, but with the relief policies passed in December, the 2021 annual poverty rate would be 13.7 percent. We project that four elements of the American Rescue Plan would reduce that annual poverty rate to 8.7 percent. 1 Other key findings regarding the American Rescue Plan are as follows: The legislation would reduce the projected number of people in poverty in 2021 by about 16 million, from over 44 million to 28 million. The projected 2021 poverty rate for children would be cut by more than half. We project that the poverty rate for individuals in households that experienced a job loss because of the pandemic recession would decline by more than half, while the poverty rate for households that did not experience job loss would decline by almost one-third. Poverty would fall 42 percent for Black, non-Hispanic people and 39 percent for Hispanic people compared with 34 percent for white, non-Hispanic people, thus reducing the disparities in poverty rates for Black, non-Hispanic people and Hispanic people relative to white, non-Hispanic people. The combined policies would reduce the share of people experiencing deep poverty (i.e., those with resources of less than half of the poverty threshold) by one-third. The share of the population with low family income (i.e., income below twice the poverty threshold) would fall from 45 to 38 percent. Our estimates include the effects of the American Rescue Plan Act's (1) extension of pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits, (2) extension of higher Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, (3) $1,400 recovery rebate payments, and (4) advance portion of the increased child tax credit. We assess the impacts of these provisions on families’ economic well-being using the Supplemental Poverty Measure.

Through interactions with their parents, children develop the basic foundations for skills that play a direct role in their adulthood economic well-being. What are the consequences of disruptions to family structure and parental absence on a child's long-run success? This paper provides estimates of the causal effects of parental absence on a child's adulthood economic well-being by leveraging an individual-level, historical dataset and a natural experiment that yields plausibly exogenous variation in parental death. Specifically, I use digitized records of nearly all mining accidents in the U.S. during the early 20 th century, and compare the adulthood outcomes of children of fatal mining accident victims to children whose parents suffered serious, yet non-fatal accidents. Adults who lost their parents during early childhood experienced a 15 percent loss of income in 1940. Most of the estimated earnings penalty is attributed to differences in employment. Specifically, bereaved sons are more likely to be out of work, report unemployment assistance, and work fewer weeks.

Background/Purpose: Psychological distress can influence cancer mortality through socioeconomic disadvantage, health-risk behaviors, or reduced access to care. These disadvantages can result in higher risks of cancer occurrence, a delayed cancer diagnosis, hamper adherence to treatment, and provoke inflammatory responses leading to cancer. Previous studies have linked psychological distress to cancer mortality. However, studies are lacking for the U.S. population. Methods: This study examines the Kessler six-item psychological distress scale as a risk factor for U.S. cancer mortality using the pooled 1997-2014 data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) linked to National Death Index (NDI) (N = 513,012). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to model survival time as a function of psychological distress and sociodemographic and behavioral covariates. Results: In Cox models with 18 years of mortality follow-up, the cancer mortality risk was 80% higher (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.64, 1.97) controlling for age; 61% higher (HR = 1.61; 95% CI = 1.46, 1.76) in the SES-adjusted model, and 33% higher (HR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.21, 1.46) in the fully-adjusted model among adults with serious psychological distress (SPD), compared with adults without psychological distress. Males, non-Hispanic Whites, and adults with incomes at or above 400% of the federal poverty level had greater cancer mortality risk associated with SPD. Using an 8 years of mortality follow-up, those with SPD had 108% increased adjusted risks of mortality from breast cancer. Conclusion: Our study findings underscore the significance of addressing psychological well-being in the population as a strategy for reducing cancer mortality.

Over the years, Pew Research Center has explored the experiences and attitudes of U.S adults from different racial and ethnic groups. As the country continues to diversify along racial and ethnic lines, key indicators of social and economic well-being show that some groups are faring better than others. The charts below allow for comparisons between racial or ethnic groups over time on a range of measures including educational attainment, household income, life expectancy and others. You may select any two groups at a time for comparison.

This dissertation examines the origins, functions, and effects of precarious schedules— characterized by unpredictable timing or hours of work—in the US labor market. I focus on the retail sector, which has drawn scrutiny for unstable scheduling practices, such as on-call shifts and variable part-time hours, that compound more familiar problems of low wages and inadequate benefits for retail workers. My dissertation advances sociological understanding of this topic by theorizing schedules as risk governance arrangements, reconceptualizing precarity in terms of frustrated expectations, and conducting novel analyses of the causal effects of specific types of schedules. I evaluate the thesis that unstable scheduling provides advantages for employers in the short term, but can be counterproductive in the longer term by undermining commitment and skill formation in the employment relationship. I develop a model of work as an option that formalizes and refines the notion of risk shifting from employers to workers through unstable scheduling. Unlike a secular process of externalizing risks, unstable schedules function as a call option, allowing employers to realize potential gains while avoiding anticipated losses to transacting for available labor. This contingent and asymmetric arrangement gives employers flexibility but precludes mutual commitment to a consistent schedule. I argue that commitment and consistency promote the formation of human and social capital that can improve performance and well-being at work. I conceive of the trade-off between optionality and commitment in the scheduling process as a reflection of the dual character of labor as a cost of production and a productive asset. The dissertation comprises three empirical studies. The first study analyzes data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort to identify compensation penalties for unpredictable and unstable schedules. The second study traces the emergence of a precarious retail labor force through historical documents, statistics, and secondary research spanning 1900–2019. The third study exploits a field experiment and high-frequency administrative data from the Stable Scheduling Study to analyze the relationship between consistency and labor productivity in twentyeight clothing stores. I find mixed results that nonetheless shed light on the governance of risk in the scheduling process. Workers with precarious schedules generally fare worse in the labor market than otherwise comparable workers with more stable schedules. But modest changes in scheduling stability among treatment stores did not significantly affect store performance as measured by quarterly sales per labor hour.

Muslim-Americans are often at the center of conversations in the U.S. political and socioeconomic sphere. They are also one of the fastest-growing demographics in the U.S., with around 1.1% of the U.S. population belonging to the Muslim faith. The 2018 Pew survey projections say that Muslim-Americans are going to be the second largest faith in the U.S. by 2040. Muslim-Americans are also one of the most racially diverse groups in the U.S., comprising Arabs, Asians, African-Americans, and Caucasians among others. Latinos are currently one of the fastest-growing Muslim-Americans demographics as well. However, despite their importance, there is limited data-driven research on Muslim giving. There is extraordinarily little data and information available on Muslim philanthropic practices. Given the centrality of giving among Muslim communities and the vital role religious giving plays in philanthropy more broadly, it is worth taking a deeper look at how and why American Muslims give. Thousands of organizations nationwide support Muslim communities across a broad spectrum of needs. While some funding for these pursuits flows from outside Muslim communities (both from individuals and foundations), they are limited; most financing of organizations that support Muslim communities’ unique needs still comes from Muslims themselves. Thus, a deep dive into the philanthropic practices of American Muslims is necessary as we consider the development and strengthening of the communities and the institutions that serve them. At the same time, it is also essential to understand the motivations behind Muslim giving, mainly the reasons that may motivate them to giving toward specific causes. To this end, the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy survey in collaboration with Islamic Relief USA included a broad range of studies for uncovering American Muslims’ philanthropic practices and motivations. Moreover, this survey is also unique because earlier surveys only looked at whether Muslims practiced philanthropy and gave to specific causes. This study is the first survey to attempt to understand Muslim charities’ overall extent and scope and assess monetary support toward various causes. This report presents the data and findings from the section on Muslim philanthropy in the Muslim American Philanthropy Poll. The study was a self-administered web survey conducted by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The study investigated the opinions of Muslims and the general population regarding faith customs, donation practices and attitudes, volunteer work, COVID-19, uncertainty intolerance, financial well-being, and discrimination. The survey also looked at how Muslims made decisions about donations. SSRS surveyed from March 17 through April 7, 2021. Overall, the team surveyed 2,005 respondents, including 1,003 Muslim respondents and 1,002 general population adult respondents. Overall, the survey finds that Muslims give more toward both faith- and non-faith-based causes than nonMuslims. Overall, if we extrapolate the overall giving to 3.45 million Muslims (based on Pew Survey), we find that Muslims gave a guestimate of 4.3 billion USD. Similarly, Muslims gave USD 1,810 to faith-based causes compared to USD 1,138 in the general population. Again, if we extrapolate the average giving of Muslims to 3.45 million Muslims, we find that Muslims gave USD 2.4 billion toward faith-based giving. Similarly, an average Muslim gave USD 1,400 to non-faith-based causes compared to USD 767 in the general population. If we extrapolate it to 3.45 million, Muslims gave an estimated USD 1.9 billion for non-faith-based causes. Overall, the report finds that American Muslims give their money and time generously in the U.S., much more than the average population. Their philanthropic patterns and preferences are well-assimilated with the American landscape and, for the most part, aligned remarkably well with the general public. There are, however, some distinct differences. For instance, Muslims generally spend a smaller proportion of their charity toward houses of worship or mosques (27.45%) compared to the average population (51.28%). Similarly, Muslims give a more significant proportion of their donations toward overseas relief and civil rights causes than the average population.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the vital role women play in our economy and in the economic security of families, both nationally and in West Virginia. Now more than ever, lawmakers in West Virginia must do better to ensure all women and families have quality reproductive health care, safe workplaces, equal representation in government, and economic security. Women need policies that reflect their roles as providers and caregivers—roles that the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated are critical to the well-being of families, communities, and the economy. In West Virginia, mothers are the sole, primary, or co-breadwinners in 63.8 percent of families, and these numbers are higher for some mothers of color across the United States. The following policy recommendations can help support the economic security of women and families in West Virginia.

Stay-at-home fathers (SAHFs) face negative social stereotypes, and experience social stigma surrounding their role. These stereotypes and stigma may be unique to SAHFs, and may further be linked to negative feelings during social contact. This study examines differences in social contact and time alone experienced by SAHFs compared to stay-at-home mothers and parents of other work/caregiving statuses. Additionally, we analyze SAHFs’ subjective well-being when with their children, spouse, non-spouse adults, and when alone to more accurately capture the positive and negative valences of their experiences across social contact. Using individual-level time-use diaries from the American Time Use Survey (N = 35,959), a nationally representative sample, we find that compared to fathers working full time, SAHFs spent more time alone, more time with only their children, and less time with adults. SAHFs reported that this alone time was meaningful, not negative. They reported more happiness when interacting exclusively with children. These findings refute some common stereotypes that primary caregiving fathers only stay home with their children as a last resort, and further support the new fatherhood ideal that many fathers desire to be more actively involved in childrearing than prior generations of fathers were. Unfortunately, SAHFs reported significantly more sadness, more stress, and less happiness while interacting in a variety of contexts with adults, including higher feelings of sadness when spending time with a spouse. Connecting our work with past research, we believe these findings are best explained by either exclusion of SAHFs or increased salience of social stigmas felt by SAHFs in social situations with adults. These indicators of emotional well-being during social contact have important implications for parent physical and mental health.

Objective: To contextualize experiences of activities during the day and investigate whether the contour of the day is correlated with well-being during activities. Methods: Drawing on American Time Use Surveys, we employ sequence and cluster analyses to create distinct typologies of daily life patterns, and bivariate analyses to describe whether well-being across activities varies by these typologies. Results: We identified four typologies characterized by different primary activity of the day: leisure (22.7%), TV (22.4%), housework (47.5%), and work (7.5%). Individuals in the work and leisure clusters tend to report more positive well-being and individuals in the housework and TV clusters tend to report more negative well-being in experiences of activities during the day. We also found that well-being experiences in the same activity differed across individuals in the different typologies. Conclusion: Understanding the daily life patterns of older adults may be important, given its correlation with well-being during activities.